Double loose turn picker



H. P. HASSELMAN DOUBLE LOOSE TURN PICKER Jan. 30, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1959 a INVENTOR firfieri l? fhasezmazz/ BY I ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1962 P. HASSELMAN DOUBLE LOOSE TURN PICKER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 11, 1959 I! 1| Hl\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\h IN V EN TOR. 112 ;12 :361? P Hasis'elrmn lml AT RNEY 3,018,803 DOUBLE LQOSE TURN FICKER Herbert Peter ll-Iasselman, Lock Haven, Pa, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Sylvania Electric Products Inc, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 792,663 Claims. (Cl. 140-415) This invention relates to a wire winding machine and particularly such as is used for winding grids for use in electron tubes.

In particular the invention relates to improved means for cutting out unwanted sections of the winding forming a grid string and removing these sections from the remainder of the grid string.

In the prior art, as exemplified by the patent to Gartner 2,755,499, issued August 21, 1956, and to Gartner et al. 2,717,092, issued September 6, 1955, means have been provided to remove a small number of loosely wound turns which had not been peened to the side rods of the grid string and which had been cut off by appropriate tools from more tightly wound grid sections, i.e., from sections having a higher number of turns per inch and in which the grid wire was peened or otherwise fastened to the side rods. Where there is a much higher number of turns per inch in the grid section to be retained, mechanical necessity requires that there shall be a larger number of loose turns between the grid sections. Because of the number of turns, or in some cases because of the thickness or stiffness of the wire, the device which picks oif the loose turns is incapable of removing the turns from about the side rods, resulting in leaving the loose turns in massed condition on the grid string thereby causing jamming of the machine and ruin to the following grid portions.

It is an object of this invention to provide means for cutting ofi? in multiple pieces, loose turns from between the tight grid sections where stiif wire having a degree of resiliency is employed or where there are a large number of loose turns of resilient wire.

It is a further object of the invention to provide means for picking oif the multiple pieces of loose turns created by the novel cut off mechanism.

Other objects will become apparent upon consideration of the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a grid winding machine embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the grid string with associated cutting tools and with the loose turn picker mechanism shown in dot and dash lines.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view, partly in section, of the loose turn cutting mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the lower end of the loose turn picker mechanism.

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are views of the picker head and associated parts, partly in section, showing the picker mechanism in various stages of operation.

This invention, as stated heretofore is an improvement on the inventions disclosed in the previously referred to patents.

In winding grids, it is desirable to wind the wire forming the grid laterals on a pair of side rods thus forming a string of grids and then cut the side rods to form individual grids. To conserve wire it is the practice to accelerate the advance of the grid side rods between what would become grids so as to increase the pitch and conserve wire between the sections. In the patent to Gartner 2,759,499, for example, this result is effected by the rise on cam 83 acting on rotating shaft 85 to suddenly shift the cam 78 which operates on cam followers 74 and 76 to operate the grid string feeding heads 54, 60 and 56.

3,618,803 Patented Jan. 30, 1962 Where the head winder rotates very rapidly to make tight turns, a large number of loose turns will be created between tight turns since it is mechanically not feasible for proper operation of parts to increase the rise of the cam 83. As pointed out above it had not been possible to remove the large number of loose turns with prior pick-oif devices.

To enable the picking off of a large number of loose turns, while still maintaining substantially the same rise on the cam 83, the invention provides for cutting the loose turns into several sections and picking off the several sections by a compound picker.

The numbers below referring to parts which are common to the numbers in Gartner et al. refer to the same parts and are operated as described in the patent.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 of this disclosure the grid side rods of the grid G are indicated at R and the helically wound grid lateral wire wound thereabout is indicated at L. In the construction of the machine, the speed of rotation of the winding head 32 and the rate of advance of the side rods in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 at the time the laterals are not peened into the rods are such as to cause five loose turns to be formed between the tightly wound grid sections. These loose turns are cut at their ends by blades 48 and 348, both of these blades being mounted on left hand slide 174, FIG. 3. The blades 48 and 348 overlap and each is provided with a slotted butt end 349 to adjustably fasten the blades to the recessed portion 350, FIG. 3, of the member 352 so that they are in proper position longitudinally of the grid side rods. The blade 348 is olfset at the forward end of the butt end, as indicated at 351, FIGS. 2 and 3, so as to bring the cutting edge thereof into horizontal alignment with the cutting edge of the blade 48. As shown in the Gartner et al. patent, each of the members 352 can be adjusted to bring the blades, as blades 48 and 348, toward and from the side rods by the screw S and held in adjusted position by the bolt 354. The blade 348 at its butt end is atop the blade 48 but at its operative end, as stated heretofore, is offset to bring the cutting end of the blade level with the blade 48. The longitudinal spacing between the effective cutting edges of the blades 48 and 348 is such as to cut off a number of loose turns which can be removed by the picker when the loose turns are additionally cut, medially of its length by the cutter 50 on the opposite side of the grid. It has been found that with a tight turn grid such as is used in type 6BL7, the picker of the invention can efliciently remove a large number of loose turns, with the loose turns out at their medial portion by the blade '50. The blade 50 is mounted and operated as in the Gartner et al. patent and is positioned on the side of the grid opposite to the blades 48 and 34-8 and midway of the distance, longitudinally of the grid, between the blades. Thus, for example, with five loose turns between blades 48 and 348, the blade 50 and the blades 48 and 348 will cut the turns to leave a pair of sections to be picked up by the picker each originally consisting of two and a half turns.

The picker of the invention is especially adapted to gather together and pick up the two halves of the loose turns. To effect the operation, the motor driven tubular shaft 212, at its lower end, is provided with a wear resisting lining 356 and the rod 234 sliding within the shaft carries a pair of picker fingers 358 and 364 pivoted to the rod on a common pin 362 and held spread apart at their operative end by a spring 364 sprung in between the fingers. Running longitudinally of the rod 234, at its lower end, is a tongue 366- perforated to allow the spring 364 to pass freely therethrough and cooperative at its lower end with each of the fingers 358 and 360 to form a dual loose turn grasping element. The tongue intersects the longitudinal axis of the rod and is formed by cutting opposite slots 361 in the sides of the rod.

When the rod 234 and shaft 212 move downward, the tongue enters the mid portion of the loose turns and the fingers 358 and 360 engage between the loose turns several turns beyond the mid section of the loose turns, as seen in FIG. 5. The proper positioning of the fingers is effected by reason of a pin 368 fastened to the lower end of rod 234, said pin being positioned between the rear ends of the fingers. Continued downward movement of the shaft 212, while the rod 234 is arrested by its arm 242 engaging fixed stop 240, see FIG. 1, causes the picker fingers 358 and 360 to be forced together to cause one of these fingers to engage one of the loose turns of each section and move it toward the tongue 366. Only a portion of the mid turn of each section is available for being grasped between a finger and the tongue, since after the wire has been cut, the inherent resiliency of the wire caused the loose end turns of the wire to unwind and move out of the path of the finger. On the rise of the shaft 212, the friction of parts will retain the fingers 358 and 360 within the shaft until the arm 242 is arrested by engagement with'fixed stop 23 8. Continued upward motion of shaft 212 with rod 234 arrested will allow the fingers to open under influence of spring 364 whereupon the two sections of loose turns will be released and be sucked into a suction duct 370 immediately behind the now open fingers.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a winder for winding a wire about a pair of side rods with loose turns intermediate tight turns, cutters for cutting away the ends of the loose turns at the juncture with the tight turns, an additional cutter arranged substantially midway between the first two cutters for cutting the loose turns medially of its length to form two loose turn sections and picker mechanism having two sets of turn engaging devices for engaging both loose turn sections and removing them from the remainder of the wire wound about the side rods.

2. In a winder for winding a wire about a pair of side rods with loose turns intermediate tight turns, cutters opposite one side rod for cutting away the ends of the loose turns at the juncture with the tight turns, an additional cutter arranged substantially medially of the length of the loose turns and arranged opposite the other side rod to form two loose turn sections and picker mechanism having two sets of turn engaging devices for engaging both loose turn sections and removing them from the remainder of the wire Wound about the side rods.

3. In a winder for winding a wire about a pair of side rods to form a wound string with low number of turns per inch sections alternating with high number of turns per inch sections, means for cutting out and removing the low number of turns per inch sections from the string comprising cutters to divide the low number of turns per inch sections into multiple parts discrete from the remainder of the string and means having multiple sets of part engaging devices to engage each of the multiple parts and remove the same from the vicinity of the remainder of the string.

4. In a Winder for winding a wire about a pair of side rods to form a wound string with low number of turns per inch sections alternating with high number of turns per inch sections, means for cutting out and removing the low number of turns per inch sections from the string comprising cutters to divide the lower number of turns per inch sections into multiple parts discrete from the remainder of the string and means to engage each of the multiple parts and remove the same from the vicinity of the remainder of the string, said last means comprising a picker shaft with means for longitudinally moving the same toward and from the string, a rod slidably frictionally mounted within the shaft, means for limiting the movement of the rod relative to the shaft in each of its directions of movement, a longitudinal central tongue on the lower end of the rod, a pair of fingers pivoted on the lower end of the rod and biased to open position, the lower end of the shaft engaging the fingers in the sliding of the rod into the shaft to close the fingers whereby each finger may engage one of the several turns of the low number of turns and force them toward the central tongue, with one turn clamped between the finger and tongue.

5. A picker for removing discrete longitudinally displaced sections of wound wire from about a pair of side rods, said picker comprising an outer shaft and an inner slidable rod with sufiicient friction between them to prevent undesired sliding movement between the two, means for arresting the relative sliding motion of the rod with respect to the shaft and means for raising and lowering the shaft, the rod at its lower end being provided with a dividing tongue intersecting the longitudinal axis of the rod, a pair of fingers pivoted to the lower end of the rod, the lower ends of the fingers terminating at a level with the lower end of the tongue and coacting with the tongue to form two sets of wire grasping mechanisms, a spring reacting against the fingers normally separating the fingers, a stop mounted on the lower end of the rod to define the open position of the fingers, said fingers on a sliding movement of the rod relative to the shaft engaging the inner wall of the shaft to pivot the fingers against the tongue.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,188,906 Lackey Feb. 6, 1940 2,219,479 Harry Oct. 29, 1940 2,713,419 Hayes July 19, 1955 2,717,092 Gartner et a1 Sept. 6, 19 5 2,759,499 Gartner Aug. 21, 1956 

